Travel books: Northern Wilderness and Wales in Style

Clover Stroud reviews the latest travel books. This week: the latest offering
from Ray Mears, and a guide to places to stay and eat in Wales.

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Ray Mears's emerging status as a national treasure is slightly confusingPhoto: ANDREW CROWLEY

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Wales in Style: 'a useful guide to some of the nicest places to stay and eat out in Wales'

By Clover Stroud

8:00AM BST 28 Sep 2009

NORTHERN WILDERNESS by Ray Mears (Hodder and Stoughton £20)

REVIEW Ray Mears’s emerging status as a national treasure is slightly confusing to those of us who see him as someone who seems to be on a permanent gap year – and getting paid for it. And apart from two or three people actually planning a survival weekend in a frozen wilderness this winter, it’s hard to see who this book (which accompanies a BBC series) is really aimed at. Mears travelled through Canada, examining the survival techniques of the Native Canadians and Inuit. The book weaves tales of his own survival techniques with the history, geography and wildlife of Canada, but it’s a confusing and slightly cynical format that sits uncomfortably between a history primer and The Dangerous Book for Boys.

EXTRACT “When I made my journey to the heart of the fur trade – the waterways around the Great Lakes – I was determined to do just as the coureurs de bois [independent adventurers and traders] had done, using the skills and tools of the woodsmen. The birch canoe they used makes almost no sound as it slips through the water, and its fastidious construction makes it a joy to manoeuvre… The strong scent of cedar that rose up as I went into the maelstrom of the rapids was a fabulous reminder of the boat’s heritage, and brought me closer to the journeys I had set to recreate – the voyages of the coureurs de bois.”

WALES IN STYLE edited by Simon Wright (Designgate £14.99)

The fact that the properties selected for this book have all paid to appear should not put you off reaching for it if you’re planning an autumn break in Wales. Although financial contributions undermine objectivity, it’s still a useful guide to some of the nicest places to stay and eat out in Wales. It’s oddly difficult to find a decent hotel and b&b guide, but this book goes some way to filling that gap. It is divided by region and includes a broad range of accommodation and eating places, from pubs and city hotels to self-catering cottages and private houses. Each chapter ends with a selection of some of the nicest things to do in each of the regions.

EXTRACT “To bird lovers, Skomer Island is paradise. That’s because it has the finest sea bird colony in northern Europe. The island’s isolation has meant that predators such as rats, cats, dogs and foxes are absent, which is how it’s become such a successful breeding ground for 200,000 Manx shearwaters plus puffins, gulls, guillemots, shags and kittiwakes, to name but a few. Its importance has led to it being a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Specific Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area under European law.”